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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

As the year comes to a close, it's hard not to be reminded of the extraordinary disaster caused by the Deepwater Horizon and the subsequent oil "spill" (though I hardly think "spill" covers it) in the Gulf Of Mexico. An organization called Global Green USA has teamed with a bunch of amazing artists for a compilation called Gasoline Rainbows, out today on Roark Records. The album is being sold exclusively as a digital download via iTunes, but you can preview much of it here.

From the press release:

The compilation was brought together by actress Sophia Bush and actor Austin Nichols, most well known for their roles on the television show One Tree Hill. Sophia and Austin travelled, with Global Green, to Grand Isle, Louisiana, to visit the beaches and see the devastation wrought by the Deepwater Horizon spill first hand. Moved by the stretches of oil along the once-beautiful beaches, as well as the devastation to the wildlife, they decided to help in whatever way they could, and this compilation is a direct result of that.

100% of the artist and label proceeds from Gasoline Rainbows will be used for Global Green's oil spill response to directly assist the communities, people, and ecosystems impacted by the BP Oil Spill, educate the public, push for more regulation (to ensure a tragedy like this never happens again) and advocate for a greener, cleaner economy.

The album has some great picks from some of our favorite indie artists, as well as three previously unreleased tracks. Great music, Great cause. win/win.

I generally don't post about the About The Music shows as they're announced because FM 94/9 does a pretty good job of spreading the word on their own and with super inexpensive ticket prices, they generally sell out quite quickly, but I LOVE the band they're kicking off their 2011 series with and if you haven't heard them yet, you're gonna be bummed if you suddenly discover them after the tickets sell out.

Everest has rolled through San Diego a few times this year, in support of Minus The Bear at Soma, with The Whigs at the Belly Up, and with Silversun Pickups, also at Soma. The band is made up incredible veteran musicians who among them have worked with or been members of Sebadoh, The Folk Implosion, Earlimart, Great Northern, John Vanderslice, and The Watson Twins among others.

They've got two records available. Their first, Ghost Notes, got critical praise, but it was recorded within weeks of the band's formation. It's On Approach that truly feels like a band making a unique mark in rock music, written as a unit after touring under their belts, with some inspiration from here and there, but still difficult to pigeonhole other than really freaking good music. The first time I saw the band, I though vocalist Russell Pollard sounded like an American James Walsh of Starsailor, but I think that band is more polarizing and Pollard has a smoother easier-on-the-ears voice than that, though I still kinda hear vocal similarities at moments, which to me is a good thing.

Everest will be returning to the Belly Up for the About The Music series on January 11. Tickets go onsale tomorrow and are only $6, with $1 going to the About The Music fund. If you're registered as an FM 94/9 Insider, you can get your tickets today during the presale.

Monday, November 29, 2010

I had the pleasure of seeing The Romany Rye, The Moondoggies, and Dawes at the Casbah on Saturday night. It was no secret that I was excited for this show after seeing Dawes earlier this summer on for the KPRI private listener harbor cruise. I'd also seen The Moondoggies earlier this year and have only heard good things about The Romany Rye, so I knew it was going to be a solid show all the way through.

I won't go on too much about the show but I will say that by the end of the night, the Casbah was only about 10 tickets shy of a sellout, but during the bands it started pouring, so all of the merch was moved into the Atari Lounge. Normally the pool tables are covered and moved so people can congregate, so the unexpected rain made the Atari Lounge and the concert room incredibly packed. I should also note that I heard more than a few people say it was their first time at the Casbah and lots of people who came specifically because they'd been on the same harbor cruise. That makes me exceptionally happy.

The Romany Rye kicked off the show and though their music is fantastic and easily graspable, the smile on singer's Luke face makes you feel instantly warm and drawn to the band. At the moment they only have an 8 song CD, but will have a full length record sometime around February.

The Moondoggies followed with a louder more jammed out set. The drummer was apparently sick back at the hotel, so Griffin from Dawes sat in and winged it and did a pretty fantastic job doing so.

By the time Dawes started, the Casbah was packed and though there were plenty of chatty people at the bar, the band played a rocked out guitar heavy set, all the while not drowning out the gorgeous harmonies that were expected. This band is so vocally powerful and never miss a note and it was definitely a show to see.

Here are the videos I shot from the night. Click through the right and left arrows to see them all...there are also a few from each opening band.

Thanksgiving weekend was bonkers and even if you're all bah-humbug this time of year, there's a lot going on. Personally I love Christmastime and all of the free community events. I've already started a huge list of things coming up, so I'm hoping to get your weekend listings up early again this week along with a plethora of holiday family fun. For now, here are your listings.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

After taking a prolonged hiatus as a band, Cincinnati based rockers The Greenhornes have reunited with a new LP and promotional tour. It is not as if founding members Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler left the music industry. Quite the contrary, since they became prominent members of the short lived indie group The Raconteurs. In fact, Lawrence actually toured with Jack White's newest project, The Dead Weather. Since the former band has dissolved, it was time to join vocalist and original member Craig Fox in the studio to record their fourth full length, Four Stars (****). This album is definitely worth a listen as the trio comprising the current band has gone more indie, while not totally abandoning their garage roots. It is an impressive release, to say the least. Seeing these well travelled veterans in the intimacy of The Casbah should prove to be quite a treat.

Friday, November 26, 2010

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. Hope you steer clear of the malls and enjoy the weekend in better ways. If you live in or near Kensington there are a couple things this weekend...Today from noon-3 is a Neighbrhood Exchange hosted by The Motivated Youth...you can bring things to barter. Saturday at the park is the finale of the Centennial Celebrations from 1-4. There will be live music, a cookie contest, a raffle, kids face painting, food from local restaurants, and a welcom back Kensington Sign. Mayor Jerry Sanders, City Councilman Todd Gloria and County Supervisor Ron Roberts will all be out to celebrate the festivities.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Last night I was supposed to spend the evening at the NBC studios filming a couple songs with Nortec Collective's Bostich + Fussible. We were notified early yesterday morning that because of an injury sustained at the Tijuana Airport, the session would have to be cancelled. As a curious creature, I wanted to see what happened, so with some basic digging, the details came to light. I wrote about the whole incident SoundDiego, but it appears there are updates, so I just wanted to add those here...

Where we left off was that Pepe Mogt, aka "Fussible" (pictured here, center) arrived at the Tijuana airport after a flight from Mexico city and claims he was hit from behind by Roberto Mendoza, a founder of Nortec Collective who performs under the name "Panoptico" with the Nortec Panoptico Orquestra. Panoptico took to Facebook to say that in fact, he was the one attacked by Fussible's staff, which resulted in a broken arm and fingers. (He posted his xray and medical receipts)

I didn't know where the strain in the relationship between Fussible and Panoptico came from, so I looked into it. According to La Ch, their differences stem from a legal dispute. A year and a half ago, Panoptico registered the Nortec name without the consent of the rest of the original collective. Fussible, Bostich, Hiperboreal & Clorofila legally took back the trademark Nortec Collective, as granted by the governing agency IMPI.

Yesterday afternoon, Fussible was said to be hospitalized and under supervision because of concerns about brain hemmorhaging. Around midnight, he once again took to Twitter and said that he will, in fact, be able to travel to Colombia and Medellin as he was diagnosed with a treatable ear injury (and posted his x-ray).

What's more interesting is the bickering happening on Twitter. Lov/Recs is Nortec Panoptico Orquestra's label and is replying to people that Panoptico is the one who is hurt. In response, Gerardo Padilla (@Pipillo2, who apparently has some connection to B+F) responded (in my best Spanish translation), "Panoptico publicly said on Facebook that our staff hit him. How is that possible if part of our staff is in Colombia and the rest traveled the day before, leaving just Ramon (Bostich), Juan Reyna, and Pepe Mogt. Panoptica wants to find a way to justify hitting Pepe in the head from behind..."

If you want to follow all of the chatter, the players are @nortec_fussible, @ramonbostich, @lovrecs, @Pipillo2, @erickcc, @vicentegtz. The tweets are still coming.

Read about it (in Spanish) here. As I mentioned in the SoundDiego article, the San Diego show on December 2 at the Casbah remains unaffected. Tickets are available here.

Over the course of the past month, I've been doling out some prize packages for the Dawes show at the Casbah. The show is this Saturday, and while I've had entries, I can't emphasize enough how much following directions counts. So, for my final contest, I'm giving away two prize packages which include two tickets to the show, the band's full length CD and a 7" vinyl split with Robert Francis (both of which I'll give to you at the show). You have to send your FIRST and LAST name and your phone number in an e-mail to sddialedin AT gmail with the subject "Dawes". You must be 21+ and you have to be available to attend on Saturday night in San Diego. Simple enough, right? I'll let you know by Friday if you've won the package.

Last night I made my way up to the Belly Up for The Black Angels and Black Mountain show. I think one of the reasons I haven't posted my day after recaps is because I know that I'm not a photographer and I never want to present myself as such, but last night, Nate was supposed to take photos and the bands didn't let him in with his pro camera, so I had fun taking pictures and am actually gonna post them.

The show was awesome, though I really went with no expectations. When I'm at home listening to music, psych-rock isn't first on my list, but for a live show, it was fantastic. The show kicked off with The Black Angels and it was a bit of a rough start. The singer of the band was severely shocked by the microphone, and after trying to discreetly resolve the issue, he was obviously frustrated and yelled that the band would stop playing if he was shocked again. They put a mic windscreen on it and it seemed to be okay and the show continued with the band playing a full set. If I was better versed, I'd tell you they played all the favorites, but the reality is I just rocked out and took the crowd enthusiasm as a sign that the band was living up to expectations. I was just stoked to watch the guitarist, especially when he busted out his 12 string Rickenbacker.

Before Black Mountain came onstage, they announced that there aas to be no flash photography and pictures were only allowed for the first three songs...standard in most venues that require a photo credential, but not usually Belly Up's policy, so I took my three songs worth of photos (dim lights, fog machine and all) and I decided to just wander and listen to the show away from the front. While I realize the bands were playing against each other, my interest was better held by the openers.

The "Stuff The Scion" event has been postponed twice already, and I have it under good authority that the event will take place today, rain or shine, though if it's raining, it might be an acoustic set inside the dealership. I'm gonna post Wednesday and Thursday listings here in case I'm in Chula Vista at the parents' house without access to the internet.

When the opportunity came up again, and since I'd missed the band opening for Dr. Dog at the Belly Up, I had to see them again. This time was an all ages show at Porter's Pub, and though it was a show for students only, Josh Damigo opened and got me my in. Per usual, Josh opened the show with a great set, and it was my first time seeing him with his new full five-piece band, so I was super impressed. As it was, the show was sparsely attended, but those that were there acknowledged that they were seeing something special.

By the time Good Old War took the stage, the crowd was thicker and those that were of age were more lubricated from the awesome beer selection. The boys in Good Old War got the crowd moving quickly.

They didn't stay on stage for long, however, and like the Soma show, they jumped into the crowd to perform, only unlike last time when it was only for the encore, this show was played almost entirely among the crowd.

I captured most of it on video, and so here, I present to you, 10 reasons to love Good Old War. To see through all of the playlist, click the right or left arrows.

For what it's worth, I saw Good Old War again the next night, when they opened for Joshua Radin, but the House of Blues isn't the same place, and playing amongst the crowd wasn't an option. They were fantastic yet again, but it wasn't the same...the chatty crowd, the people trickling in who had no idea what they were even there for...I even interviewed Keith, the main vocalist of Good Old War, but instead of showing that, just enjoy this band for what they are and the show they give. And next time they come around, make sure you know all the words or you'll be cheating yourself of a really great show experience.

I've been a resident of Kensington for over a decade now, and I never thought when I took this sloppy photo that the Kensington sign would ever be absent from my view, but it's been a crazy fight and with community fundraising and planning committees bickering, the sign was taken down for safety concerns. An agreement on the sign's replacement was a long time coming, but with the community celebrating the centennial, the sign is finally back. Surely it won't be without controversy, because nothing in this neighborhood is ever easy, but the new sign is finally coming up.

The guys were hard at work throughout the night and you can see how they've been fighting through the rain to get it up before the centennial party this Saturday in the park at the Kensington library.

I personally am happy to see the sign return, no matter how different it might be than the sign that existed for over half a century.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

We in the Silent Comedy camp just confirmed that we will be joining Oscar award winner Ryan Bingham, and his band, The Dead Horses on a month-long tour in February of 2011! The tour includes the entire western US, and a tiny corner of Canada. We're extremely excited about this opportunity, and can't wait to join our friends in these cities for what promise to be some very special shows! We'll also make sure to post some moments from the tour here on SDDialedin!